Jennifer Horsley, The Queens Caregiver
QUEENS — From typing on her keyboard to going home, there is one thing that is on her mind. That’s the care of all children.
Jennifer Horsley is an executive director of St. John’s Residence for Boys for over three years. However, she has been working with kids for 27 years.
The 48-year-old Queens native was inspired by her mother.
“My mother was a teen mother and when she became an adult and married and wanted to have her own family, she wanted to give back,” Horsley said. “One of the ways that she gave back was to become a foster parent of teenage mothers with their babies.”
She continued.
“She started that when I was about 12 or 13-years-old,” she said. “I kind of grew up with foster sisters and their babies and I got to experience people whose families are experiencing a hard time. Our family was able to help people who are in that situation and I wanted to continue doing that work when I was a child.”
Like Dominic Toretto, it’s all about family. She really appreciates her family, especially her foster sisters and her parents.
She is very close with her mother and two foster siblings. When asked about her relationship with her father, she chuckled.
“My father was the funnest father that anybody can have,” she said. “My dad was very catering and he was very fun. My dad was the fun parent while my mom was the focus and serious parent.”
One of the things that she remembers was her dad taking her to the store and would treat her, as well as her sisters to McDonalds every Friday.
Meanwhile, she remembered her mother keeping her focused with school and church. She also remembered her mother teaching her the morals and principles that she would use today.
She uses her fun side from her dad to make the kids within the foster care system feel safe and comfortable. She then uses the focused side from her mother to help find a permanent home for the kids.
“She is very passionate,” said Monita Jordan who was a former associate of Horsley. “She always wanted to make sure that the kids get the services that they needed and she made sure that as a sociotherapist and caseworker, that you were on top of your job. The ultimate goal is to meet the children’s needs.”
She also said that Horsley was very outgoing and that she is a very social person.
St. John’s Residence has helped out over hundreds of kids find homes, according to Horsley.
Besides providing foster kids the help that they need, she also makes sure that her own child was on the right path and provided her daughter the tools needed to become successful.
There was a point where Horsley had to think for a moment when asked what her greatest achievement was.
“My greatest achievement is being a mom,” she said. “I think that god trusted me to be a parent and I tried to do right by her and she is doing well.”
Her daughter responded to her mother’s words of affirmation.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever heard that,” said Bria Horsley, a producer for Showtime TV and Comedy Central. “ My mom put in a lot of work to make sure I have a fulfilling life and to make sure that I always have something to do.”
She continues.
“I think that she’s a good role model, she‘s really supportive, and she works really hard,” said the 25-year-old. “In fact, she works harder than anybody that I’ve met, ever.”
One takeaway that she has about her mom is that you should always have genuine intentions when it comes to achieving your goals. You always have to put in the work in order to be where you want to be within life, according to Bria.
Simply put, your actions are the determining factor of who you are as a person.
She remembered her mom buying her a Jeep Cherokee for her college graduation to celebrate. It was the car that she wanted as her first vehicle.
She also remembered the times when they used to spend Christmas Eve together at her grandmother’s house.
Christmas Eve is a big family event as Bria’s grandmother will hold a family reunion. Her and her mother would make jokes about family members.
One thing that her grandmother would do is tell the same stories and religious scriptures from the Bible. On this particular Christmas Eve, her grandmother said that she will present a story that she has never told before.
Only for her grandmother to tell the exact same story that they tell each other every year. That was when the mother-daughter duo proceeded to laugh throughout the entire story.
Her relationship with her mother is strong, but she mentioned her mother’s personality.
“She’s not really an affectionate person,” she said. “It’s not that she didn’t love me, she loved me a lot, but I think it’s just her as a person. Our parents are people before they are parents and I just had to learn that. I definitely knew from her actions that she cares a lot. ”
After that, she stated that her mother gave her all of the necessary resources for her to be ready for the real world and to always try to give it your all when you are achieving your goal.
To impact her daughter’s life and to impact other kids is what Jennifer Horsley will continue to do. She is very dedicated to her job and had never thought about leaving her career.
Mainly, helping kids just makes her happy.
“There’s a lot of happy moments at work,” she said. “When kids achieve things, they want to be celebrated, so they’re always happy to share some good news. Some kids get their own apartment, some kids get to go back to their families, and some kids get adopted. There’s been a lot of moments that make you happy when you work with a family for a long time.”